NASA FOIA 21-HQ-F-00500

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A~57 . from Ohahran
EXCERPTS FROM MAMCO REPORT ON Al~HADI'DAH MTEORlTES
•••• The rim of the main crater w~s quite distinct, its. outline marked
wiU,wnite rock and black fvsed . $1Hca; a lthough a northern sector had been
drifted o¥er with sand . The crater appears moch deeper from t~ ground than
it does from the air; we estimated ft to be 25 feet deep ••••
•••• The meteorite, which appeared to be nearly pure iroo with a thin.
dark brown oxide crust, was in the fonm of a shallow cone. The pitted but
.roughly le .... 1 top surface was about three and onCwhalf het i ." diameter. As
viewed fram the side. the iron tapers to a smooth, blunted point. The depth
of the cone W4IS about 18-24 inches. The meteorhe is obviously of the
"oriented" type. The blunt point of the conc, or "headll , was down"ard, and
the iron was immersed in drift sand nearly to the top flat surface. There
was $~ fused silica in the vicinity of the 'ron, but none apparently immc-
diately beneath it or in contact with it. The pie<e was photographed in place
and then turned over with the bulldozer and lifted onto the trailer with the
K~orth A-frame. Its weight was leter determined to be about 4,$00 pounds,
(!is: 4,800 pounds).
That evening Tahir, the Kenworth driver. dis~overed another, apparently
unorfented. meteorite southeast of the first I~ation. This was s~a lle"
weighing 470 pounds, and more deeply o~id' 2ed. The,e was no f~sed sand near
it. This w~s also photographed and loaded or.to the trailer.
Kadban, our guide. told us that he and his fellow tribe5men ~e~ of five
pieces of iron in all. Two we had found; but there y"cre three marc" he said.
These meteorites are said to be uncovered at different tfm~s as th~ tow dunes
move oyer them. Hadban showed us two locations, now covered wi-th dLlnes; where
he h8d seen frons of about the same size.s those we had already fQUrid • . An·
other. much larger, he had heard of but had not seen himself.-~had heard
his frfends describe the location and showed us where it Is suPPosedlto ' lie.
The following is a list of the loc aticns of the two recovered meteoriles
rOKi~t~ locations of the three others as pointed ou t by Hadba~. Atl
~ ~im,",t" are magnetic; they and the distances are meas.ured from the tdangulati.on
on the mai" crater rim.
I. To meteorite found by Abercrombie; azimuth 196°; distance )8) me~er s
Z. To meteol"i te found by Tahir; atimuth 176°; distance 57S meters
3. To reported meteorite under dune 1 azimuth approx. 2]0°; appro~.
dhtance 700 meters
4. To reported tneteod te under dune: azimuth app rox. 337°; .pprox.
distance 900 meten
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